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John  A  L&wbJI  Bank  Hole  Co 


ORATION 


RELIGION:  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  NATION 


BY 

REV.  JAMES  A.  SUPPLE,  D.  D. 


DELIVERED   BEFORE  THE  CITY   GOVERNMENT   AND  CITIZENS  OF  BOSTON 

IN  FANEU1L  HALL,  ON  THE  ONE  HUNDRED   AND   THIRTY-EIGHTH 

ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  DECLARATION  OF   INDEPENDENCE 

OF  THESE   UNITED   STATES,  JULY   4,    19 14 


DE    LI 


CITY  OF  BOSTON 

PRINTING  DEPARTMENT 
1914 


<-r;A0E5  teteuNciO 


■■-       ,  t 


S°[ 


KELIGION:    THE    HOPE    OE    THE    NATION. 


Fourth  of  July  Oration,  1914. 


By  Rev.  James  A.  Supple,  D.  D. 


Your  Honor  and  Fellow  Citizens: 

This  day,  set  apart  by  the  government  to  com- 
memorate the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, recalls  the  principles  of  justice  and 
liberty  upon  which  this  republic  was  founded 
when  she  took  her  place  among  the  nations  of  the 
world  to  begin  her  career:  a  career  which  seems 
destined  under  the  Providence  of  God  to  rival  the 
grandeur  of  ancient  dynasties  and  historic  empires, 
if  indeed  she  has  not  already  excelled  them  in  scien- 
tific discovery  and  invention. 

The  very  atmosphere  of  rejoicing  is  tempered  by 
the  necessity  of  retrospect  regarding  those  prin- 
ciples which  are  the  corner  stones  upon  which  has 
been  reared  this  temple  of  self-government,  this 
refuge  of  all  who  seek  liberty.  The  resounding  of 
cannon  from  the  armored  ships  in  our  harbor,  the 
festive  embellishment  of  our  public  buildings,  the 
measured  tread  of  our  country's  defenders  lose 
much   of   their   meaning   if    we,    conscious   of   our 


4  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

present  power  and  contented  with  our  satisfying 
past,  do  not  examine  the  beginnings  and  aims  of 
our  government.  This  is  the  time  to  apply  our 
keenest  methods  of  scrutiny  to  discover  the  course 
of  our  Ship  of  State  and  to  ascertain  if  the  path 
across  the  surging  years  has  been  in  accord  with 
the  compass. 

This  is  an  occasion  when  we  not  only  present  to 
the  Master  of  Men  and  the  Protector  of  Peoples  a 
grateful  heart  for  His  many  blessings,  but  with 
earnest  searchings  we  examine  our  national  con- 
science to  consider  how  we  have  fulfilled  the  trust 
committed  to  our  care,  what  account  we  can  give  of 
our  stewardship. 

One  hundred  and  thirty-eight  years  have  elapsed 
since  the  memorable  hour  when  the  framers  of  a 
new  nation  signed  that  singular  document  known 
as  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  We  of  to-day 
cannot  appreciate  the  significance  of  that  occasion. 
What  that  hour  meant  to  them  it  is  almost  impossible 
for  us  to  estimate.  We  are  too  remote  from  the 
time  to  understand  the  conditions  of  that  day  and 
generation,  the  difficulties  which  confronted  them, 
the  obstacles  that  impeded  the  way  to  peace  and 
progress;  in  consequence  we  cannot  adequately 
value  their  achievement. 

Independence  was  the  dream  of  years;  their 
message  of  a  free  nation  to  the  thirteen  colonies 
was  not  merely  the  end  of  oppression  and  unjust 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  5 

taxation.  No,  it  was  something  more;  it  was  the 
fulfillment  of  a  hope  that  had  been  the  source  of 
constant  inspiration  and  encouragement;  it  was 
the  answer  to  the  prayers  of  those  who  had  gone 
before  them,  the  yearnings  of  an  exiled  people  who 
had  braved  the  seas  to  reach  these  distant  shores 
where  they  might  find  on  alien  soil  freedom  to  worship 
God  and  build  the  future  for  themselves  and  their 
children. 

We  may  read  of  the  pass  at  Thermopylae;  the 
legions  of  imperial  Rome  may  have  stamped  our 
memories  with  indelible  impressions  of  their  deeds 
of  war  and  conquest;  the  career  of  Napoleon  with 
its  striking  manifestation  of  power  and  genius 
we  may  know  by  heart,  but  our  appreciation  is 
dull  indeed  when  compared  to  the  sentiments  of 
those  who  took  part  in  the  conflict  and  were  actual 
participants.  They  heard  the  strife  of  battle;  saw 
the  flash  of  bayonets;  looked  upon  the  field  of 
blood  covered  with  the  dead  and  dying.  They 
knew  the  worth  of  victory  for  they  witnessed  the 
price  paid  for  it. 

The  thoughts  of  those  at  home,  the  happiness 
of  the  future,  the  welfare  of  the  nation,  all  these 
give  to  triumph  a  zest  beyond  even  the  keenest 
imagination.  True  it  is  that  we  weep  over  the 
tragedies  of  the  past,  our  hearts  may  be  torn  in 
anguish  by  the  mere  recital  of  wrongs  which  nations 
have  endured  in   times  of   suffering  and  persecu- 


6  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

tion,  but  our  sorrow  is  a  phantom  when  compared 
to  the  calamity  of  the  moment  which  caused  the 
tragedy  and  made  the  time  of  trial  an  era  of  per- 
secution. So  must  it  be  with  us.  We  cannot 
comprehend  the  full  significance  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  because  we  have  not  felt  the 
conditions  which  stirred  the  colonies  to  rebellion 
and  conceived  the  idea  of  liberty.  It  is  for  us 
rather,  who  have  received  the  blessings,  to  revere 
and  perpetuate  the  same  principles  of  justice  and 
liberty  upon  which  the  nation  has  been  founded 
and  which  have  accorded  her  for  nearly  a  century 
and  a  half  a  unique  and  honored  place  in  the 
universe. 

It  was  in  this  same  vein  that  President  Lincoln 
pleaded  when,  on  the  battlefield  at  Gettysburg, 
his  whole  being  flooded  with  the  emotions  of  the 
Civil  War,  he  spoke  a  thrilling  message  for  the 
future:  "We  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot  con- 
secrate, we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave 
men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have 
consecrated  it,  far  above  our  poor  power  to  add  or 
detract.  The  world  will  little  note  nor  long  remem- 
ber what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what 
they  did  here.  It  is  for  us  the  living,  rather,  to  be 
dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work  which  they 
who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced. 
It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great 
task  remaining  before  us  that  from  these  honored 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  7 

dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for 
which  they  gave  the  past  full  measure  of  devotion 
that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall 
not  have  died  in  vain,  that  this  nation,  under  God, 
shall  have  a  new  birth  of  free  sons  and  that  govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people, 
shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

What  will  save  this  republic  of  ours?  What  will 
hold  this  country  steadfast  to  its  principles,  con- 
stant to  its  traditions  amid  the  vicissitudes  of  time 
and  the  incessant  influx  of  new  and  strange  yet 
fascinating  theories?  Surely  no  human  power  can 
stay  the  ravages  of  error;  no  human  voice  can  still 
the  discord  of  contention;  no  human  law  can  hold 
within  its  sanction  the  conscience  of  a  nation  that 
welcomes  to  her  shores  the  children  of  every  habit- 
able quarter  of  the  universe. 

Sicut  patribus,  sit  Deus  nobis:  As  He  was  to 
our  fathers,  so  may  he  be  to  us,  our  God.  Religion 
is  the  hope  of  this  nation,  the  bulwark  of  its 
morality,  the  safeguard  of  its  prosperity,  the  angel 
guardian  of  its  very  existence. 

In  spite  of  certain  vague  and  visionary  theories, 
it  still  remains  a  fact  that  the  family  is  the  basis 
of  the  nation.  Nay,  more;  the  family  is  not  only 
the  foundation  of  the  nation,  it  is  the  source,  the 
principle  of  its  vitality.  Family  life  is  to  a  nation 
what  the  heart  is  to  the  body;  it  has  been  aptly 
described    as    the    second    soul    of   humanity.     So 


8  FOURTH   OF  JULY  ORATION. 

dependent  is  a  nation  upon  its  family  life  that  the 
advancement  or  degeneration  of  the  former  may  be 
measured  by  the  people's  esteem  of  the  latter. 

History  affords  the  discerning  mind  undeniable 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  assertion.  The  pros- 
perity of  the  Roman  empire  fluctuated  with  the 
integrity  of  her  family  life  and  even  to-day  nations 
are  not  a  little  concerned  about  their  own  imme- 
diate future  because  of  conditions  in  their  family 
life  that  are  far  from  moral.  Respect  for  parental 
authority,  obedience  and  affection  in  the  family 
are  coexistent  with  national  vigor  and  power.  The 
evident  unity  of  the  English  nation  with  her  world- 
wide extent  of  empire  is  coincident  with  a  devotion 
and  love  for  home  unequalled  by  any  people  of 
modern  Europe.  These  concomitant  prosperities  of 
nation  and  family  are  not  accidental.  There  exists 
between  them  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect.  The 
welfare  of  the  nation  is  the  product,  the  result  of 
the  good  order  of  the  family  and  not  vice  versa. 

In  a  nation  as  well  as  in  the  family  we  need  the 
same  laws,  the  same  qualities,  the  same  virtues. 
The  training  and  education  of  children,  the  develop- 
ment of  habits  and  character,  the  formation  of 
future  generations  takes  place  in  the  bosom  of  the 
family.  It  is  the  home  that  sows  the  seed;  the 
nation  reaps  the  harvest.  The  nation  imposes  her 
duties,  her  obligations;  the  family  trains  the  chil- 
dren to  accept,  to  perform  them.     Men  of  character 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  9 

are  not  made  to  order;  they  are  the  fruits  of  early 
and  persistent  training;  they  are  the  products  of 
a  real  home. 

If  the  family  does  not  make  men,  the  state  never 
will.  The  lovers  of  the  flag,  the  defenders  of  a 
nation,  the  patriots  of  to-day  and  yesterday  are 
not  formed  in  the  barracks  or  on  the  battlefield 
nor  aboard  the  training  ship;  they  are  patriots 
when  they  leave  their  mother's  embrace  and  bid 
farewell  to  the  old  home.  There  their  education 
was  begun  and  there  too,  as  far  as  solidity  is  con- 
cerned, it  was  perfected  also.  It  is  the  Spartan 
mother  and  the  mother  of  the  Machabees  who  gives 
true  patriots  to  a  nation. 

Patriotism  will  never  fire  the  heart  of  people 
devoid  of  love  for  their  homes  and  respect  for  their 
families.  Patriotism  is  devotion  to  that  land  which 
we  call  our  own,  around  which  are  associated  all 
those  memories  that  men  and  women  hold  dearest 
in  life.  It  brings  into  play  and  makes  of  them  the 
impetus  of  action  and  the  motive  of  sacrifice  those 
hallowed  ties  that  have  become  as  it  were  a  part 
of  ourselves.  What  will  military  tactics  or  army 
maneuvers  accomplish  for  sons  trained  in  a  weak, 
indolent,  pleasure-loving  family?  Men  are  made 
of  different  stuff.  Soldiers  such  as  these  would 
prove  traitors  rather  than  heroes  of  the  nation  of 
which  they  formed  the  army. 

Family  life  without  religion  is  like  to  the  house 


10  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

built  upon  the  sand.  "And  the  rain  fell,  and  the 
floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and  they  beat 
upon  that  house,  and  it  fell,  and  great  was  the  fall 
thereof."  To  attempt  to  erect  it  upon  any  other 
foundation  is  to  trust  its  stability  to  the  caprices 
of  the  heart,  the  inconstancy  of  human  affection. 
The  heart  is  the  throne  of  love.  It  is  capable  of 
great  things;  it  is  the  all-conquering  power  of  the 
universe.  The  master  paintings  of  the  artist,  the 
most  sublime  creations  of  the  sculptor,  the  noblest 
deeds  of  the  hero  —  all  have  been  the  labor  of 
love.  Love  stands  at  the  threshold  of  every  human 
endeavor  worthy  of  being  remembered  by  future 
generations.  The  zeal  of  love  will  attempt  even 
the  impossible,  for  love  knows  no  fear  and  is  well 
acquainted  with  sacrifice. 

Yet  love  is  not  permanent;  the  human  heart 
will  vacillate.  Of  its  very  nature  it  demands  the 
influence,  the  guidance,  the  check  of  religion. 

Family  life  without  religion  is  a  story  of  strife 
and  sorrow.  Even  the  pagans  acknowledged  it. 
They  gave  religion  the  place  of  honor  in  the  family 
circle.    They  united  their  altars  and  their  hearths. 

To-day,  perhaps  because  of  the  greater  activity 
of  the  apostles  of  material  progress,  a  discordant 
note  is  sounded  to  disturb  this  universal  harmony; 
an  isolated  voice  is  heard  bringing  its  message  of 
discord  and  striving  to  maintain  the  integrity  of 
the  family  on  a  purely  natural  basis.     Listen  to 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  11 

that  voice,  banish  God  from  your  homes;  expel 
the  influence  of  faith,  do  away  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  religion,  and  what  have  you  left?  The 
heart:  yes,  the  heart  with  its  frailties,  its  caprices. 
Love  governs  the  heart  but  religion  must  govern  love. 

Would  you  have  the  nuptial  couch  without  honor, 
children  without  respect,  husband  and  wife  unfaith- 
ful to  their  promise  and  matrimony  itself  a  mere 
mercantile  contract?  Do  you  want  one  of  the 
most  sacred  of  human  bonds  broken  at  the  will  of 
its  fickle  contractors  until  divorce  stalks  the  land, 
your  nation  becomes  polygamous  and  you  have 
immolated  on  this  sacrilegious  altar  the  happiness 
of  your  children,  the  welfare  of  the  entire  country? 

"Matrimony  is  a  sacrifice  rather  than  a  contract, 
a  crucial  test  for  both  man  and  woman."  Duties 
must  be  performed,  obstacles  overcome,  crosses 
are  to  be  borne.  Sacrifice  without  religion  is  not 
easy.  It  is  faith  that  teaches  the  merit,  the  nobility 
of  sacrifice.  It  pierces  the  clouds  and  reveals  the 
hidden  God;  it  offers  men  and  women  the  road 
beset  with  abnegation;  it  counsels  them  to  proceed 
without  fear,  for  it  teaches  them  that  though  the 
world  may  know  nothing  of  their  sacrifices,  there 
is  a  just  God  who,  witness  to  what  they  bear,  will 
console  them  in  their  trials  and  tribulations. 

It  is  the  law  of  God  that  safeguards  the  stability 
of  the  family:  it  is  the  love  of  God  that  strengthens 
men  and  women  for  its  burdens. 


12  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

The  home  is  also  the  sanctuary  of  the  children, 
the  most  important  factor  in  the  future  of  a  nation. 
The  child  of  to-day  is  the  citizen  of  to-morrow. 
Responsibilities  await  him.  He  is  needed  to  succeed 
the  men  and  women  who  built  well  in  their  genera- 
tion and  left  the  legacy  of  conserving  that  for 
which  they  labored  and  for  which  many  of  them 
sacrificed  their  lives. 

The  task  of  preservation  is  a  difficult  one.  It 
is  precisely  in  days  of  prosperity  that  we  need  be 
anxious.  When  the  motive  of  patriotism  that 
springs  from  a  sense  of  danger  is  wanting,  men  and 
women  are  not  governed  by  circumstances  or 
environment  but  the  sheer  force  of  moral  character. 

The  training  of  the  child  is  the  making  of  the 
man.  The  traits  of  childhood  developed  with  care 
or  left  to  grow  at  random  manifest  themselves  in 
later  years.  They  acquire  at  the  same  time  the 
strength  and  persistency  which  are  the  natural 
products  of  growth.  While  the  lower  creation  acts 
through  instinct,  man  is  governed  by  his  will  and 
the  will  because  of  its  innate  freedom  must  be  trained 
along  right  paths;  otherwise  disaster  lies  before  it. 
Let  children  grow  without  restraint  and  the  forces 
of  nature  will  prevail  independently  of  the  rights  of 
others  and  the  obligations  incumbent  on  each 
human  being.  Man  is  a  creature  of  habit.  Habit 
is  his  second  nature  and  in  time  becomes  so  pre- 
dominant that  a  man's  habits  determine  his  char- 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  13 

acter.  All  those  complex  factors  that  form  character 
are  largely  due  to  habits  intentionally  or  uninten- 
tionally contracted.  The  period  of  training  is  the 
early  years.  Then  the  mind  is  more  plastic,  the 
will  more  easily  influenced.  Later  their  power  of 
adaptability  is  lessened  and  the  learning  of  a  new 
habit  implies  the  breaking  of  an  old  one.  Many 
good  habits  if  not  acquired  in  early  life  are  not 
acquired  at  all  and  if  so,  not  so  perfectly,  while 
the  defects  in  the  adult  may  be  traced  and  attributed 
to  his  first  training. 

To  teach  children  the  ground  work  of  future 
character,  to  guide  them  along  the  lines  of  correct 
habits,  religion  is  indispensable.  The  law  of  God 
is  the  eternal  standard  of  right  and  wrong.  Without 
God  duty  is  a  word  without  meaning  and  obliga- 
tions have  no  sanction.  The  supreme  law  giver  is 
the  vindicator  of  all  authority.  "Honor  thy  father 
and  thy  mother"  is  the  ultimate  appeal,  the  tribunal 
that  guarantees  the  peace  and  good  order  of  every 
family. 

When  the  influence  of  religion  is  set  aside  in  the 
education  of  our  youth  fads  and  fancies  are  sub- 
stituted in  its  place.  They  thrive  for  awhile  and 
perish.  To-day  they  propose  the  knowledge  of 
sin.  It  is  not  knowledge  that  we  need  but  virtue. 
Sex  hygiene  will  not  make  better  men  and  women 
but  the  observance  of  the  ten  commandments  will. 

Silence  the  name  of  God  in  your  homes,  your 


14  FOURTH  OF  JULY   ORATION. 

schools  and  institutions  in  which  your  children, 
the  future  citizens  of  the  nation,  are  trained  and  you 
may  write  over  their  doors  what  Dante  saw  written 
over  the  gates  of  hell:  "All  ye  who  enter  here,  leave 
hope  behind." 

Well  has  it  been  said  that  if  the  child  is  not  a 
lawmaker  he  will  become  a  lawbreaker  and  that 
in  the  near  future.  If  respect  for  authority  is  not 
inculcated  in  our  youth,  then  look  for  rebellion  and 
anarchy.  Children  will  not  grow  up  spontaneously 
into  law-abiding  citizens.  Obedience  to  law,  rever- 
ence for  superiors,  honesty  in  public  and  private 
life,  respect  for  the  rights  of  others  do  not  spring 
in  human  lives  like  mushrooms  in  a  field  over  night. 
These  virtues  need  careful,  constant  cultivation. 
Without  the  help  of  religion  the  task  will  be  in  vain. 
Education  to-day  as  always  without  religion  will 
prove  a  failure.  The  court  records  rarely  bear 
witness  to  the  fact  that  crimes  are  committed 
through  lack  of  education.  Rather  improper  edu- 
cation is  responsible  for  crime,  because  it  has  left 
the  consciences  of  men  dead,  without  God,  without 
religion. 

If  the  family  is  to  be  the  faithful  nursery  of  a 
nation,  for  nursery  it  is,  we  must  make  room  for 
God,  that  through  His  teachings  children  may  obey 
their  parents,  honor  their  fathers  and  mothers, 
bring  into  the  lives  of  those  with  whom  they  meet 
the  principles  of  justice,  reverence,  respect,  charity, 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  15 

which  are  the  foundation  of  genuine  character  and 
the  only  substantial  corner  stone  upon  which  the 
future  of  a  nation  can  safely  rest. 

As  the  integrity  of  a  nation  depends  upon  the 
morality  of  its  family  life,  so  its  material  prosperity 
varies  with  the  condition  of  the  working  classes.  It 
is  the  workingman  that  produces  the  nation's 
wealth,  and  whether  his  labor  be  in  the  field  or  on 
the  sea  or  in  the  factory,  it  is  his  constant,  daily 
toil  that  makes  for  the  country's  greatness.  Hence 
it  is  that  the  question  of  labor  is  one  of  the  most 
engaging  problems  to  be  solved  by  any  community 
and  never  before  as  in  our  time  has  it  demanded  so 
much  study  and  attention.  It  involves  the  con- 
sideration of  labor  in  itself  and  the  relations  be- 
tween employer  and  employed.  Neither  can  be 
settled  satisfactorily  on  any  other  basis  than  that 
of  religion. 

Take  God  and  the  consolations  of  religion  out  of 
labor  and  what  does  it  become?  Drudgery.  It  is 
described  as  such  in  the  language  of  pagan  classics. 
Aristotle  calls  work  illiberal;  Plato  tells  us  that  the 
man  who  worked  was  frowned  upon  and  considered 
unworthy  of  Grecian  citizenship;  Cicero,  spokes- 
man for  the  Latin  people,  regards  laborers  as  an 
inferior  class  to  be  treated  as  slaves.  Terence 
assures  us  that  to  gain  respect  and  win  the  esteem 
of  the  populace  men  must  lead  a  life  of  leisure,  and 
the  satirical  pen  of  Juvenal  reveals  the  chasm  be- 


16  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

tween  the  rich  and  poor,  the  wretchedness  and 
desolation  of  the  laboring  classes. 

This  degraded  view  of  labor  still  exists  in  coun- 
tries where  the  name  of  God  is  never  spoken.  Work 
to  the  Brahmins  was  a  sort  of  legal  contamination, 
and  the  Indians  of  our  own  country  refused  to 
labor.  That  was  menial  service  relegated  to  their 
women  whom  they  regarded  as  slaves.  To-day 
with  all  our  enlightenment  labor  is  honored  in  word 
only.  Money  is  the  idol  of  the  moment.  Men 
demean  themselves  before  the  rich.  They  bow 
before  wealth  and  influence.  They  look  askance  at 
the  common  laborer  whose  hands  are  hardened  by 
honest  toil. 

Religion  alone  can  dignify  the  condition  of  labor. 
Without  it  labor  is  equivalent  to  the  energy  of  a 
machine  and  the  mechanic  is  placed  on  a  par  with 
the  machine  he  operates.  What  difference  is  there 
between  them?  None,  or  very  little.  Both  labor 
for  the  same  result;  one  works  for  wages,  the  other 
does  not.  One  is  an  absolute  slave,  the  other  a 
conditional.  Is  this  the  only  difference  between 
a  machine  and  a  man?     God  forbid. 

Labor  is  inseparable  from  the  man.  No  em- 
ployer can  hire  so  much  labor  as  he  would  buy  a 
machine.  Labor  is  a  part  of  the  man  and  his  rights 
must  be  considered  when  we  speak  of  labor.  Man 
does  not  live  to  work;  he  works  to  live  and  to 
live  as  God  created  him,  a  free,  intelligent,  moral 
agent  and  not  a  slave. 


FOURTH  OF  JULY   ORATION.  17 

The  evil  is  not  in  labor  nor  in  the  organization 
of  labor.  The  evil  lies  in  the  fact  that  labor  has 
been  paganized.  Viewed  from  this  standpoint  labor 
is  slavery  pure  and  simple  and  the  laborer  must 
groan  under  his  daily  burden  like  the  slave  under 
the  master's  lash. 

The  various  issues  kindred  to  labor,  the  living 
wage,  competition,  inequality  of  wealth,  poverty, 
industrial  capital,  private  property,  can  never  be 
answered  without  the  aid  of  religion.  The  whole 
question  is  .not  a  purely  economic  problem;  it 
involves  moral  rights  and  principles.  Labor  is 
the  product  of  human  as  well  as  physical  activities. 
Labor  force  is  the  man  himself  and  when  we  speak 
of  labor  the  innate  rights  of  the  laborer  must  be 
respected  and  given  fair  play.  It  is  not  within 
the  competence  of  the  laborer  to  renounce  or  even 
barter  away  his  rights  to  life  and  health,  morality 
and  conscience.  The  employer  is  bound  to  hold 
them  sacred  and  guard  them  against  violation. 
These  are  God's  gifts  to  the  working  man  and  this 
is  why  labor  must  be  treated  from  the  standpoint 
of  religion,  for  religion  declares  the  immutable 
standard  of  justice  and  gives  an  appeal  to  the 
Court  of  God  Himself,  Who  has  revealed  the  princi- 
ples of  social  right  and  Christian  charity  for  all 
men,  whatever  their  condition  may  be,  in  their 
relations  with  one  another. 

It  is  absolutely  true,  as  the  Socialist  says,  that 
many   of   our   economic   evils   are   due   to   vicious 


18  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

organization,  absolutely  callous  to  the  woes  and 
lamentations  of  the  working  classes.  While  it 
means  liberty  to  the  strong  to  abuse  their  strength, 
in  ironic  contrast  it  degrades  labor  to  commercial 
slavery.  The  poor  must  take  the  terms  upon 
which  they  are  to  earn  their  daily  bread  or  starve. 
There  is  no  alternative.  No  less  a  light  than  Pope 
Leo  XIII.  says  practically  the  same  thing:  "The 
preservation  of  life  is  the  bounden  duty  of  each 
and  all,  and  to  fail  therein  is  a  crime.  It  follows 
that  each  one  has  a  right  to  procure  what  is  required 
in  order  to  live,  and  the  poor  can  procure  it  in  no 
other  way  than  by  work  and  wages.  There  is  a 
dictate  of  nature  more  imperious  and  more  ancient 
than  any  bargain  between  man  and  man,  that  the 
remuneration  must  be  enough  to  support  the  wage- 
earner  in  reasonable  and  frugal  comfort.  If  through 
necessity  or  fear  of  a  worse  evil  the  workman  accepts 
harder  conditions  because  an  employer  or  contractor 
will  give  him  no  better,  he  is  the  victim  of  force 
and  injustice." 

We  do  not  deny  the  evils  which  the  Socialists 
emphasize,  but  the  remedies  they  propose  are  utterly 
inadequate.  You  cannot  change  conditions  unless 
you  control  the  principles  that  are  responsible  for 
them;  you  cannot  alter  principles  unless  you  can 
reach  the  consciences  that  inspire  and  make  them; 
you  cannot  stir  conscience  without  the  law  of  God. 

It   is   the   fatherhood   of    God    that    makes   the 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  19 

brotherhood  of  man.  It  is  precisely  this  spirit  of 
fraternal  charity  coupled  with  social  justice  that 
can  meet  effectually  the  present  problems  of  the 
industrial  universe. 

Justice  is  necessary  that  peace  and  order  may 
reign  in  the  world  but  justice  is  incomplete  without 
charity.  A  world  ruled  by  justice  alone  would  be 
unbearable.  Justice  can  lessen  the  poverty  of  the 
world;  justice  can  lessen  the  suffering  of  the  world 
but  justice  can  never  take  the  place  of  charity. 

When  the  relations  of  justice  have  been  perfectly 
harmonized  —  if  that  can  ever  be  —  there  still 
remains  the  need  of  another  force  to  guarantee  the 
happiness  of  the  individual  and  the  welfare  of 
society.  That  wonderful  power  that  stirs  men  to 
their  best  is  known  under  the  name  of  charity. 

So  it  is  with  the  relations  between  employer  and 
employed.  Those  relations  are  properly  adjusted 
by  the  law  of  God  who  made  the  toiler  and  the 
master;  before  whose  tribunal  both  are  amenable; 
whose  law  of  brotherly  love  is  incumbent  upon  each; 
with  whom  there  is  no  exception  of  persons;  who 
demands  an  account  of  each  stewardship. 

Employers  are  bound  to  treat  those  who  work 
for  a  living  as  fellow-men.  They  do  not  belong  to  a 
lower  order  of  creation.  In  everything  essential 
they  are  equal  to  those  who  employ  them.  They 
are  created  by  the  same  God;  they  are  made  to 
the  same  image  and  likeness;    their  souls  are  as 


20  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

valuable;  they  are  endowed  with  the  same  faculties. 
Often  they  stand  higher  in  the  moral  code  than  the 
men  who  employ  them. 

Imperfection  in  education,  the  lack  of  social 
distinction,  their  position  in  an  inferior  station  does 
not  deprive  men  of  the  right  of  being  considered 
human  beings.  If  those  who  hire  labor  would  admit 
these  simple  truths  not  only  in  theory  but  in  prac- 
tice, carry  them  out  to  their  legitimate  consequences, 
much  of  the  sorrowing  of  the  working  classes  would 
cease  to  exist.  Men  do  not  rebel  against  work;  it 
is  by  work  that  they  live.  They  understand  that 
well.  It  is  not  work  that  wounds  but  the  unjust, 
unscrupulous  and  even  inhuman  attitude  of  those 
for  whom  they  labor. 

When  men  are  no  longer  pitted  against  each 
other  but  look  upon  one  another  as  brothers;  when 
they  realize  that  work  is  the  means  and  not  the  end 
of  living  and  that  those  who  serve  a  trade  should 
live  by  the  trade;  when  the  workshop  becomes  as 
it  were  an  extension  of  the  household  and  workmen 
are  regarded  as  members  of  the  master's  family; 
when  both  parties  work  for  the  common  good,  with 
protection  on  one  side  and  loyal  service  on  the 
other;  in  a  word,  when  we  have  conscience  in  the 
industrial  world  men  will  hold  themselves  account- 
able to  the  supreme  law  giver  and  then  and  then 
only  may  we  hope  for  brighter  conditions  among 
the  laboring  classes. 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  21 

The  laborer  has  his  obligations  also.  He  must 
give  his  employer  respect,  obedience,  loyalty. 
Respect;  for  in  a  certain  way  he  is  dependent  upon 
his  employer  for  the  means  of  his  livelihood.  Obe- 
dience; the  toiler  contracts  to  do  a  certain  work. 
He  is  engaged  and  paid  to  do  not  his  own  will  but 
the  will  of  the  employer.  Loyalty;  the  laborer  is 
in  a  position  of  trust.  Confidence  has  been  put 
in  him.  He  must  not  betray  it.  He  has  accepted 
a  pledge.     He  must  keep  it. 

To  give  the  minimum  of  brain  and  brawn  in 
return  for  wages  is  absolutely  wrong  and  against 
all  justice.  The  obligations  of  the  workingman  are 
just  as  stringent  and  bind  him  as  sacredly  as  those 
of  his  employer.  There  can  be  no  toleration  of  the 
unscrupulous,  deceitful  laborer.  Not  only  must  we 
condemn  the  designing  demagogue  who  goes  about 
fomenting  disturbance  and  rousing  the  working 
classes  to  evil  courses  which  will  never  serve  their 
true  interests  but  we  must  denounce  as  well  the 
laborer  who  in  receipt  of  fair  wages  scamps  his  work, 
wastes  time,  shirks  duty  except  under  supervision, 
injures  his  employer's  machinery  and  materials, 
makes  unreasonable  demands,  or  who  strikes  need- 
lessly and  without  proper  warning  or  has  recourse  to 
violence  in  striving  to  redress  his  rights. 

The  prosperity  of  the  nation  upon  which  the 
happiness  of  the  entire  people  depends  is  the  product 
of  two  forces,  labor  and  capital.     When  these  two 


22  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

forces  work  harmoniously  together  instead  of  oppos- 
ing each  other,  peace  and  order  are  assured  in  the 
industrial  world.  Each  performs  a  necessary  func- 
tion and  is  indispensable  to  the  other.  Neither  is 
the  enemy  nor  the  servant  of  the  other,  but  both 
capital  and  labor  have  reciprocal  duties,  and  on  the 
faithful  discharge  of  these  duties  the  welfare  of  the 
nation  depends. 

Labor  and  capital  reach  the  ideal  in  the  scales  of 
justice  and  charity  when  they  harken  to  the  word  of 
God,  Who  sets  the  standard  for  the  employer  and 
employed.  To  the  latter  he  says:  "Be  obedient  to 
them  that  are  your  masters  in  the  simplicity  of  your 
hearts  as  to  Christ,  not  serving  to  the  eye  as  it  were 
pleasing  men,  but  as  the  servants  of  Christ,  doing 
the  will  of  God  from  the  heart,  knowing  that  what- 
soever good  thing  man  shall  do,  the  same  shall  he 
receive  from  the  Lord";  and  to  the  employer:  "And 
you,  masters,  do  the  same  things  to  them,  forbearing 
to  threaten,  knowing  that  the  Lord  both  of  them 
and  of  you  is  in  Heaven,  and  there  is  no  respect  of 
persons  with  Him." 

These  in  a  few  words  are  the  obligations  of  the 
employer  and  employed.  If  accepted  and  carried 
out  conditions  will  be  as  nearly  ideal  as  we  can 
hope  to  make  them.  Religion  is  the  leaven  of 
social  regeneration.  The  law  of  God  becomes  the 
standard  of  right  and  wrong;  the  consciences  of  men 
are  governed  by  its  benign  and  salutary  teaching; 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  23 

the  pagan  idea  of  convenience  and  self-interest  is 
relegated  to  the  age  to  which  it  belongs,  when  men 
were  regarded  as  slaves  and  work  looked  upon  as 
drudgery. 

As  the  welfare  of  a  nation  depends  upon  the 
integrity  of  its  family  life  and  the  condition  of  its 
labor,  and  these  in  turn  upon  the  influence  of  relig- 
ion, the  peace  of  a  republic  is  assured  by  its 
acknowledgment  of  a  supreme  Being  and  its  due 
regard  for  His  eternal  laws.  Nations  fall  into  ruin 
once  they  have  forsaken  their  faith  in  God.  Then 
vice  has  no  restraint,  virtue  no  reward.  The  world 
becomes  a  theater  and  life  a  stage  of  sin  and  sorrow. 
When  France  was  drenched  with  human  blood 
Figuier  declared  it  was  not  petroleum  but  material- 
ism that  destroyed  her. 

And  so  it  must  be.  Without  God  there  is  neither 
law  nor  order.  All  is  chaos.  What  upholds  the 
authority  of  a  nation,  the  dignity  of  its  magistrates? 
God's  sanction.  Do  away  with  that  sanction  and 
laws  are  valueless  and  magistrates  powerless. 

God  is  the  origin  of  right  and  duty.  Exclude 
Him  and  the  very  notion,  as  Pope  Leo  says,  of 
what  is  right  and  good  will  perish.  We  have  no 
rights  except  what  we  have  received  from  God  and 
there  is  no  authority  but  His  to  vindicate  them. 
The  rights  of  men  are  inseparable  from  those  of 
God.  Sever  the  tie  that  binds  them  and  human 
rights  are  no  longer  facts  but  chimeras. 


24  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

When  the  name  of  God  is  without  fear,  right 
gives  way  to  force,  slavery,  despotism.  "What  we 
take  from  the  sovereignty  of  God  we  add  to  that 
of  the  despot." 

The  city  of  Cambridge  did  a  lasting  service  not 
alone  to  herself  but  to  the  entire  nation  when  she 
carved  over  the  portals  of  city  hall:  "  God  has  given 
ten  commandments  to  men.  From  these  command- 
ments men  have  framed  laws  by  which  to  be 
governed." 

When  we  pretend  to  build  a  nation  on  the  foun- 
dation stones  of  reason  and  morality  without  God 
or  religion;  when  professors  teach  that  prime  and 
final  causes  are  nothing  more  or  less  than  the 
abstractions  of  idealists  and  philosophers;  and  that 
even  supposing  that  there  be  a  God,  He  does  not 
concern  Himself  about  us,  and  man  in  consequence 
is  irresponsible  in  his  actions  and  morals;  when  the 
leaders  of  a  people  play  fast  and  loose  with  the 
fundamental  principles  of  right  and  wrong;  when 
the  public  conscience  is  deprived  of  guidance,  peace 
and  order  will  be  sought  in  vain. 

To  make  a  nation,  gold  is  not  enough.  The  altar 
was  and  the  altar  always  will  be  the  corner  stone  of 
any  nation  that  is  to  endure.  To  look  upon  religion 
as  an  intruder  in  civil  matters,  to  seek  to  relegate 
its  influence  to  matters  purely  personal  or  eccle- 
siastic; to  refuse  it  a  forum  in  politics,  business, 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  25 

education,  economics  and  the  manifold  relations  of 
men  with  one  another,  is  to  assume  that  God  has 
abandoned  men  in  their  mutual  relations  although 
the  most  vital  interests  of  the  human  race  depend 
upon  them. 

The  assumption  cannot  be  proved.  God  has 
not  only  created  individuals;  He  is  the  author  of 
their  mutual  relations  also.  He  has  so  formed 
human  society  that  men's  acts  have  not  merely 
an  individual  but  a  social  character.  He  has  multi- 
plied the  points  of  contact,  as  it  were,  between  the 
individuals  that  make  society.  He  has  surrounded 
each  one  of  us  with  a  network  of  influences,  rights, 
duties.  He  has  placed  between  Himself  and  each 
individual  a  host  of  others,  so  that  we  reach  God 
by  acts  that  affect  others  as  much  as  by  personal 
sanctity. 

The  relations  and  activities  of  social  life  not 
less  than  those  of  private  life  are  dominated  by 
moral  laws.  They  who  teach  the  people  to  adore 
no  God  but  gold,  to  recognize  no  laws  but  those 
of  self-interest,  are  the  real  enemies  of  a  republic 
though  they  are  not  always  publicly  so  regarded 
nor  dragged  before  the  courts  of  justice  to  be 
sentenced. 

Justice  and  virtue  are  the  necessary  conditions 
of  genuine  progress.  When  religion  has  lost  its 
hold  upon  a  people's  heart,  virtue  will  lie  buried 


26  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

under  the  ruins  of  truth.  It  is  impossible  to  act 
well  when  one  believes  and  loves  ill.  Withdraw 
the  light  of  faith  from  the  public  conscience,  the 
family  is  humbled  to  the  dust;  obedience  is  shame; 
property  is  disputed;  sacrifice  and  abnegation  are 
driven  out  by  egotism  and  idleness;  pleasure  and 
convenience  become  the  standard  of  living;  natural- 
ism is  the  apology  for  vice;  photography,  lithog- 
raphy and  journalism  make  friends  with  scandal; 
virtue  is  sold  as  a  mere  commodity  and  we  have 
wholesale  traffic  in  the  honor  of  the  nation. 

The  need  of  the  present  generation  is  men  of 
faith,  men  of  religion.  As  long  as  there  are  such, 
we  need  never  fear  for  the  future  of  the  republic. 
It  is  related  that  when  the  last  hero  of  Poland  fell 
on  the  battlefield  he  cried,  "The  end  of  Poland." 
So  also  when  the  fires  of  faith  are  no  longer  kindled 
at  our  hearths,  when  among  our  people  those  who 
believe  in  the  justice  of  a  God  who  rewards  and 
punishes  are  deprived  of  that  belief  through  the 
insidious  doctrines  of  materialism;  when  the  name 
of  God  is  no  longer  held  in  reverence  by  our  nation, 
we  may  take  up  the  cry  and  exclaim,  "The  end  of 
America." 

But  that  day,  please  God,  shall  never  be.  This 
nation  has  been  blessed  too  bountifully  by  Him  to 
forget  its  benefactor.  Our  public  men  have  uttered 
His  sacred  name  with  honor;  they  have  counted 
upon  His  help  to  work  out  the  future  of  the  nation. 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  27 

"An  appeal  to  arms  and  to  the  God  of  Hosts  is 
all  that  is  left  us.  They  tell  us,  sir,  that  we  are 
weak  —  unable  to  cope  with  so  formidable  an 
adversary.  But  when  shall  we  be  stronger?  Will 
it  be  the  next  week  or  the  next  year?  Will  it  be 
when  we  are  totally  disarmed,  and  when  a  British 
guard  shall  be  stationed  in  every  house?  Shall  we 
gather  strength  by  irresolution  and  inaction?  Shall 
we  acquire  the  means  of  effectual  resistance  by 
lying  supinely  on  our  backs  and  hugging  the  delusive 
phantom  of  Hope,  until  our  enemies  shall  have 
bound  us  hand  and  foot?  Sir,  we  are  not  weak,  if 
we  make  a  proper  use  of  those  means  which  the  God 
of  nature  has  placed  in  our  power.  Three  millions 
of  people  armed  in  the  holy  cause  of  liberty,  and  in 
such  a  country  as  that  which  we  possess,  are  invinci- 
ble by  any  force  which  our  enemy  can  send  against 
us.  Besides,  sir,  we  shall  not  fight  our  battles  alone. 
There  is  a  just  God  who  presides  over  the  destinies 
of  nations  and  who  raise  up  friends  to  fight  our 
battles  for  us." 

The  first  president  of  our  great  republic  said: 
"Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to 
political  prosperity,  religion  and  morality  are  indis- 
pensable supports.  In  vain  would  that  man  claim 
the  tribute  of  patriotism  who  would  labor  to  subvert 
these  great  pillars  of  human  happiness,  these  firmest 
props  of  the  duties  of  men  and  citizens.  The  mere 
politician   equally   with   the   pious   man   ought   to 


28  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION. 

respect  and  cherish  them.  A  volume  could  not 
trace  all  their  connections  with  private  and  public 
felicity.  Let  it  simply  be  asked,  where  is  the 
security  for  property,  for  reputation,  for  life,  if  the 
sense  of  religious  obligation  desert  the  oaths  which 
are  the  instruments  of  investigation  in  courts  of 
justice?  And  let  us  with  caution  indulge  the  sup- 
position that  morality  can  be  maintained  without 
religion.  Whatever  may  be  conceded  to  the  influ- 
ence of  refined  education  on  minds  of  peculiar 
structure,  reason  and  experience  both  forbid  us  to 
expect  that  national  morality  can  prevail  in  exclu- 
sion of  religious  principle." 

The  words  of  Washington  in  his  farewell  address 
may  be  linked  with  those  of  Wilson  in  his  inaugural : 
"God  helping  me,  with  the  aid  of  all  good  and 
patriotic  men  to  counsel  me,  I  shall  not  fear  of 
success  for  the  future." 

Give  God  His  rightful  place  in  the  nation.  Call 
Him  by  His  proper  name  —  God.  Away  with 
those  seductive  titles  of  Nature  and  Science  by 
which  a  mistaken  age  would  hide  His  identity 
and  over  whose  temple  it  would  carve  as  the  Athe- 
nians of  old:  "To  the  unknown  God." 

Give  God  an  honored  place  in  the  family;  let 
Him  enter  the  industrial,  commercial,  social  and 
political  life  of  our  people;  do  not  relegate  Him 
to  the  church,  the  altar,  the  pulpit,  and  then  the 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ORATION.  29 

dream  of  those  who  framed  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  will  be  realized;  the  words  of  the 
inspired  Psalmist  will  find  a  counterpart  in  our 
beloved  country:  there  is  no  other  nation  like  to 
ours,  and  the  reason  of  it  will  be  because  no 
other  nation  has  its  gods  so  near  to  it  as  our 
God  is  to  us. 


A     LIST 


BOSTON    MUNICIPAL   ORATORS. 


By  C.   W.   ERNST. 


BOSTON     ORATORS 

Appointed  by  the  Municipal  Authorities. 


For  the  Anniversary  of  the  Boston  Massacre,  March  5, 1770. 

Note.  —  The  Fifth-of-March  orations  were  published  in  handsome  quarto  editions, 
now  very  scarce ;  also  collected  in  book  form  in  1785,  and  again  in  1807.  The  oration 
of  1776  was  delivered  in  Watertown. 

1771.  —  Lovell,  James. 

1772.  — Warren,  Joseph.2 

1773.  —  Church,  Benjamin. b 

1774.  —  Hancock,  John.8,2 

1775.  — Warren,  Joseph. 

1776.  — Thacher,  Peter. 

1777.  —  Hichborn,  Benjamin. 

1778.  — Austin,  Jonathan  Williams. 

1779.  —  Tudor,  William. 
1780. — Mason,  Jonathan,  Jun. 

1781.  —  Dawes,  Thomas,  Jun. 

1782.  — Minot,  George  Richards. 

1783.  —Welsh,  Thomas. 


For  the  Anniversary  of  National  Independence,  July  J/.,  1776. 

Note. — A  collected  edition,  or  a  full  collection,  of  these  orations  has  not  been 
made.  For  the  names  of  the  orators,  as  officially  printed  on  the  title  pages  of  the 
orations,  see  the  Municipal  Register  of  1890. 

1783.  —  Warren,  John.1 
1784. — Hichborn,  Benjamin. 
1785.  —  Gardner,  John. 

a  Reprinted  in  Newport,  R.I.,  1774,  8vo.,  19  pp. 

b  A  third  edition  was  published  in  1773. 

1  Reprinted  in  Warren's  Life.  The  orations  of  1783  to  1786  were  published  in  large 
quarto;  the  oration  of  1787  appeared  in  octavo;  the  oration  of  1788  was  printed  in  small 
quarto;  all  succeeding  orations  appeared  in  octavo,  with  the  exceptions  stated  under 
1863  and  1876. 


34  APPENDIX. 

1786.  — Austin,  Jonathan  Loring. 

1787.  — Dawes,  Thomas,  Jun. 
1788. — Otis,  Harrison  Gray. 

1789.  —  Stillman,  Samuel. 

1790.  — Gray,  Edward. 

1791.  —  Crafts,  Thomas,  Jun. 
1792. — Blake,  Joseph,  Jun.2 
1793. — Adams,  John  Quincy.2 
1794.  — Phillips,  John. 
1795. — Blake,  George. 
1796.  —  Lathrop,  John,  Jun. 
1797. — Callender,  John. 

1798.  —  Quincy,  Josiah.2-  s 

1799.  — Lowell,  John,  Jun.2 
1800. — Hall,  Joseph. 

1801.  —  Paine,  Charles. 

1802.  — Emerson,  William. 

1803.  —  Sullivan,  William. 
1804. — Danforth,  Thomas.2 

1805.  —  Dutton,  Warren. 

1806.  —  Channing,  Francis  Dana.4 

1807.  — Thacher,  Peter.2'  5 

1808.  — Ritchie,  Andrew,  Jun.2 

1809.  —  Tudor,  William,  Jun.2 
1810. — Townsend,  Alexander. 

1811.  —  Savage,  James.2 

1812.  ■ — Pollard,  Benjamin.4 

1813.  —  Livermore,  Edward  St.  Loe. 

2 Passed  to  a  second  edition. 

3  Delivered  another  oration  in  1S26.  Quincy's  oration  of  1798  was  reprinted,  also, 
in  Philadelphia. 

4  Not  printed. 

£On  February  26,  1811,  Peter  Thacher's  name  was  changed  to  Peter  Oxenbrldge 
Thacher.  (List  of  Persons  whose  Names  have  been  Changed  in  Massachusetts,  1780- 
3892,  p.  214 


APPENDIX.  35 

1814. — Whitwell,  Benjamin. 
1815. — Shaw,  Lemuel. 

1816.  —  Sullivan,  George.2 

1817.  —  Channing,  Edward  Tyrrel. 

1818.  —  Gray,  Francis  Calley. 
1819. — Dexter,  Franklin. 
1820.  —  Lyman,  Theodore,  Jun. 
1821. — Loring,   Charles  Greely.2 

1822.  —  Gray,  John  Chipman. 

1823.  —  Curtis,  Charles    Pelham.2 

1824.  —  Bassett,  Francis. 

1825.  —  Sprague,    Charles.6 

1826.  —  Quincy,  Josiah.7 

1827.  —  Mason,  William  Powell. 

1828.  —  Sumner,  Bradford. 

1829.  — Austin,  James  Trecothick. 
1830. — Everett,  Alexander  Hill. 

1831.  —  Palfrey,  John  Gorham. 

1832.  — Quincy,  Josiah,  Jun. 

1833.  — Prescott,  Edward  Goldsborough. 
1834. — Fay,  Richard  Sullivan. 

1835. — Hillard,  George  Stillman. 

1836.  —  Kinsman,  Henry  Willis. 

1837.  — Chapman,  Jonathan. 

1838. — Winslow,  Hubbard.  "  The  Means  of  the  Per- 
petuity and  Prosperity  of  our  Republic." 

1839. — Austin,  Ivers  James. 

1840. — Power,  Thomas. 

1841. — Curtis,  George  Ticknor.8  "  The  True  Uses  of 
American  Revolutionary  History."8 

1842. — Mann,   Horace.9 

6  Six  editions  up  to  1831.    Reprinted  also  in  his  Life  and  Letters. 

7  Reprinted  in  his  Municipal  History  of  Boston.    See  1798. 
fc  Delivered  another  oration  in  1862. 

'  There  are  five  or  more  editions ;  only  one  by  the  City. 


36  APPENDIX. 

1843. — Adams,  Charles  Francis. 

1844.  —  Chandler,  Peleg  Whitman.      "The  Morals  of 
Freedom." 

1845. — Sumner,  Charles.10     "The  True    Grandeur   of 
Nations." 

1846. — Webster,   Fletcher. 
1847. — Cary,  Thomas  Greaves. 
1848.  — Giles,  Joel.      "Practical  Liberty." 
1849. — Greenough,  William  Whitwell.      "The  Con- 
quering Republic." 

1850.  —  Whipple,    Edwin   Percy.11     "Washington   and 

the  Principles  of  the  Revolution." 

1851.  —  Russell,  Charles  Theodore. 

1852. — King,  Thomas  Starr.12     "The  Organization  of 
Liberty  on  the  Western  Continent."12 

1853.  —  Bigelow,  Timothy.13 

1854.  —  Stone,    Andrew    Leete.2     "The    Struggles    of 

American  History." 
1855. — -Miner,  Alonzo  Ames. 
1856. — Parker,    Edward    Griffin.      "The  Lesson   of 

'76  to  the  Men  of  '56." 

1857.  —  Alger,  William  Rounseville.14     "  The  Genius 

and  Posture  of  America." 

1858.  — Holmes,  John  Somers.2 

1859.  —  Sumner,  George.15 
1860. — Everett,  Edward. 

1861.  —  Parsons,  Theophilus. 

1862.  —  Curtis,  George  Ticknor.8 
1863. — Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell.16 
1864. — Russell,  Thomas. 


10  Passed  through  three  editions  in  Boston  and  one  in  London,  and  was  answered 
in  a  pamphlet,  Remarks  upon  an  Oration  delivered  by  Charles  Sumner  ....  July 
4th,  1845.  By  a  Citizen  of  Boston.  See  Memoir  and  Letters  of  Charles  Sumner,  by 
Edward  L.  Pierce,  vol.  ii.  337-384. 

"  There  is  a  second  edition.     (Boston:  Ticknor,  Reed  &  Fields.    1850.    49  pp.  V2°.) 

12  First  published  by  the  City  in  1892. 

13  This  and  a  number  of  the  succeeding  orations,  up  to  1861,  contain  the  speeches, 
toasts,  etc.,  of  the  City  dinner  usually  given  in  Faneuil  Hall  on  the  Fourth  of  July. 


APPENDIX.  37 

1865. — Manning,     Jacob      Merrill.        "Peace    under 
Liberty."2 

1866.  —  Lothrop,  Samuel  Kirkland. 

1867.  —  Hepworth,  George  Hughes. 

1868.  —  Eliot,  Samuel.     "  The  Functions  of  a  City." 
1869. — Morton,  Ellis  Wesley. 

1870. — Everett,  William. 

1871.  —  Sargent,  Horace  Binney. 

1872.  — Adams,  Charles  Francis,  Jun. 

1873. — Ware,  John  Fothergill  Waterhouse. 
1874.  —  Frothingham,  Richard. 

1875. — Clarke,  James  Freeman.      "  Worth  of  Republi- 
can Institutions." 

1876.  —  Winthrop,  Robert  Charles.17 

1877.  —  Warren,  William  Wirt. 

1878.  —  Healy,  Joseph. 
1879. — Lodge,  Henry  Cabot. 
1880. — Smith,  Robert  Dickson.18 

1881.  —  Warren,  George  Washington.     "Our  Repub- 

lic—  Liberty  and  Equality  Founded  on  Law." 

1882.  —  Long,  John  Davis. 

1883. — Carpenter,     Henry     Bernard.  "American 

Character  and  Influence." 
1884.  —  Shepard,  Harvey  Newton. 
1885. — Gargan,   Thomas  John. 

14  Probably  four  editions  were  printed  in  1857.  (Boston:  Office  Boston  Daily  Bee. 
30  pp.)  Not  until  November  22,  1864,  was  Mr.  Alger  asked  by  the  City  to  furnish  a 
copy  for  publication.  He  granted  the  request,  and  the  first  official  edition  (J.  E.  Far- 
well  &  Co.,  1864,53  pp.)  was  then  issued.  It  lacks  the  interesting  preface  and  appendix 
of  the  early  editions. 

"There  is  another  edition.  (Boston:  Ticknor  &  Fields,  1859,  69  pp.)  A  third 
(Boston :  Rockwell  &  Churchill,  1882,  46  pp.)  omits  the  dinner  at  Faneuil  Hall,  the 
correspondence  and  events  of  the  celebration. 

"There  is  a  preliminary  edition  of  twelve  copies.  (J.  E.  Farwell  &  Co.,  1863.  (7), 
71  pp.)  It  is  "  the  first  draft  of  the  author's  address,  turned  into  larger,  legible  type, 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  rendering  easier  its  public  delivery."  It  was  done  by  "  the 
liberality  of  the  City  Authorities,"  and  is,  typographically,  the  handsomest  of  these 
orations.  This  resulted  in  the  large-paper  75-page  edition,  printed  from  the  same 
type  as  the  71-page  edition,  but  modified  by  the  author.  It  is  printed  "  by  order  of  the 
Common  Council."     The  regular  edition  is  in  60  pp.,  octavo  size. 


38  APPENDIX. 

1886.  —  Williams,  George  Frederick. 

1887.  —  Fitzgerald,  John  Edward. 

1888. — Dillaway,  William  Edward  Lovell. 
1889. — Swift,  John  Lindsay.19     "The  American   Citi- 
zen." 
1890. — Pillsbury,  Albert  Enoch.     "  Public  Spirit.  " 

1891.  —  Quincy,  Josiah.20     "The  Coming  Peace." 

1892.  —  Murphy,  John  Robert. 

1893.  —  Putnam,  Henry  Ware.     "The  Mission  of   Our 

People." 

1894.  —  O'Neil,  Joseph  Henry. 

1895. — Berle,  Adolph  Augustus.  "The  Constitution 
and  the  Citizen." 

1896. — Fitzgerald,  John  Francis. 

1897. — Hale,  Edward  Everett.  "The  Contribution  of 
Boston  to  American  Independence." 

1898. — O'Callaghan,  Rev.  Denis. 

1899. — Matthews,  Nathan,  Jr.  "Be  Not  Afraid  of 
Greatness." 

1900. — O'Meara,  Stephen.  "Progress  Through  Con- 
flict." 

1901. — Guild,  Curtis,  Jr.  "Supremacy  and  its  Con- 
ditions." 

1902. — Conry,  Joseph  A. 

1903.  — Mead,    Edwin    D.       "The    Principles    of    the 

Founders." 

1904.  —  Sullivan,  John  A.     "Boston's  Past  and  Pres- 

ent.    What  Will  Its  Future  Be?" 


17  There  is  a  large  paper  edition  of  fifty  copies  printed  from  this  type,  and  also  aD 
edition  from  the  press  of  John  Wilson  &  Son,  1876.    55  pp.  8°. 

18  On  Samuel  Adams,  a  statue  of  whom,  by  Miss  Anne  Whitney,  had  just  beer 
completed  for  the  City.    A  photograph  of  the  statue  is  added. 

"Contains  a  bibliography  of  Boston  Fourth  of  July  orations,  from  1783  to  1889, 
inclusive,  compiled  by  Lindsay  Swift,  of  the  Boston  Public  Library. 
20  Reprinted  by  the  American  Peace  Society. 


APPENDIX.  39 

1905. —  Colt,  Le  Baron  Bradford'.  "America's  Solu- 
tion of  the  Problem  of  Government. " 

1906. —  Coakley,  Timothy  Wilfred.  "The  American 
Race  :  Its  Origin,  the  Fusion  of  Peoples ;  Its 
Aim,  Fraternity." 

1907. —  Horton,  Rev.  Edward  A.  "Patriotism  and  the 
Republic." 

1908. —  Hill,  Arthur  Dehon.  "The  Revolution  and 
a  Problem  of  the  Present." 

1909. —  Spring,  Arthur  Langdon.  "The  Growth  of 
Patriotism." 

1910. —  Wolff,  James  Harris.  "The  Building  of  the 
Republic." 

1911. —  Eliot,  Charles  W.  "The  Independence  of 
1776   and   the  Dependence  of   1911." 

1912. —  Pelletier,  Joseph  C.     "  Respect  for  the  Law." 

1913. —  MacFarland,  Grenville  S.  "A  New  Declara- 
tion of  Independence." 

1914. —  Supple,  Rev.  James  A.  "Religion:  The  Hope 
of  the  Nation." 


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